Leeds United Chief Executive Officer Angus Kinnear has claimed that the Whites' academy can be a 'pipeline of world class potential for many years to come'. Leeds have invested heavily on their training ground over the past few seasons and the Whites' youth team have since improved.
The club's Under 23s side recorded an impressive 4-0 win over Crystal Palace on Monday night, with Crysencio Summerville scoring a hat-trick and Stuart McKinstry netting the other. It was an impressive performance from the Whites, who moved up to 10th place in Premier League 2 Division 1 in the meantime.
For the first time in many years, Leeds are currently competing against the best academies on a weekly basis, with Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea all in the same division this season. This was after the Whites won promotion to the top-tier last term, strolling to the league title.
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A number of talented youngsters have also progressed through into the first-team, with Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Charlie Cresswell amongst those to feature for the Whites this campaign. Summerville, Lewis Bate and Leo Hjelde have also been given senior minutes following Leeds' injury crisis.
They have also played an important role in their campaign, with Leeds having to field a bench full of youth team players at times. Kinnear was speaking about the academy in Leeds' latest accounts from August 2020 up to June 2021.
The Whites announced a pre-tax profit of £26 million for the 2020-21 Premier League season. The campaign was the Whites' first back in the top flight for almost two decades and despite the impact of Covid-19, the club were able to post just their second annual profit in the last 10 years.
The return to the Premier League and the TV money that comes with it, has played a huge part, rising from £1.4 million in the Championship to £22 million. Leeds posted a £62 million loss from their final season in the Championship, despite winning the title under Marcelo Bielsa.
Kinnear said: "Following promotion to the Premier League and Marcelo Bielsa committed to his third season in charge, Leeds United invested heavily in the summer transfer window bringing Spanish internationals Rodrigo Moreno and Diego Llorente to Elland Road, as well as Brazilian Raphinha and Robin Koch who has represented Germany. In total, 10 players made appearances at full international level and 17 players from the Academy were called up to represent their national teams at various age groups illustrating both how the first-team squad has evolved to be compromised of truly world-class talent whilst the academy promises a pipeline of world class potential for many years to come."
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